Frequently asked questions

A home for the ATC and ACEO community in Canada and the United States, built by traders, for traders. It has two parts: ATC trading, where traders swap Artist Trading Cards one card for one card, and the ACEO shop, where we sell original ACEOs we've bought directly from the artists who made them.

Both are original miniature artworks, 2.5" × 3.5". ATCs are made to be traded, so on the Hub they only change hands through trades. ACEOs are made to be sold, so on the Hub they're bought and sold only through our shop.

Anyone aged 18 or over who lives in Canada or the United States.

Joining, browsing, listing cards and making offers are free. Each completed trade costs a flat $1 per trader, paid with a trade from a trade pack bought through PayPal, and half of it comes back to you as loyalty credits. Everyone who joins the waitlist pays no trade fees until November 30, 2026. ACEOs in the shop cost the price shown on each one. Every amount is the same number in Canadian and US dollars.

On November 1, 2026, at midnight Ontario time. Everything opens together: ATC trading, the ACEO shop and artist applications. Join the waitlist and we'll email you the day it opens.

Join the waitlist between October 1 and 31, 2026. When the Hub opens, create your account with the same email address and confirm it, and 500 loyalty credits ($5 toward an ACEO in our shop) are added straight away.

Yes, for everyone on the waitlist, whenever you joined. You pay no trade fee on any trade accepted until November 30, 2026, the Hub's first month, and you still earn loyalty credits on every trade. Create your account with the same email address and confirm it, and it applies automatically. From December 1, the usual $1 fee per trade applies.

Yes. If you join the waitlist in October through your group's invite link, you receive 500 extra credits from your group: 1,000 credits in total, added when you create your account with the same email.

A confirmation when you join, an email the day we launch, and the occasional update before then. Every email has an unsubscribe link, and unsubscribing doesn't affect any credits you're owed.

List a card with three photos (front, back and a close-up of its texture). Offer one of your cards for a card you like; the other trader has 2 business days to accept. Once accepted, you each mail your card within 3 business days, with photos as proof of posting. When you've both confirmed your cards arrived, the trade is complete and you rate each other.

No. Every trade is exactly one card for one card, true to how ATCs have always been traded.

Each trader pays to mail their own card, usually just a stamped envelope. Tracking is never required, but it's welcome, especially for cross-border trades.

If a card you're owed is genuinely lost in the mail despite proof it was sent, our trade guarantee compensates you in loyalty credits. If a card arrives damaged or not as described, report it from the trade: a real person reviews it within 2 business days and decides within 3, and either trader can appeal once.

Our estimate of what a card is worth, calculated from genuine demand for the artist's work on the Hub. Nobody enters a value, including the card's owner, so it can't be inflated or talked down. Like every amount on the Hub, it's the same number in Canadian and US dollars.

From demand for the artist's work over the last 90 days:

• how many offers their cards receive;
• how quickly those offers arrive after a card is listed;
• how many people follow the artist;
• how many different people show interest overall.

Together, these give the artist's value for a Mint card, between $3 and $50. The card's condition then determines its share of that value: Mint 100%, Near Mint 90%, Excellent 75%, Good 55% and Poor 30%.

Our thank-you for trading. Each credit is worth 1 cent (100 credits = $1) toward ACEOs in our shop. You earn them with every completed trade, with bonuses for trading with someone new and for trade milestones. They can't be bought or cashed out.

We buy original ACEOs directly from artists, check each one in person, and list it at a fixed price. Pay through PayPal, with loyalty credits, or a mix of both. Orders paid entirely on PayPal or entirely in credits ship free.

Any artist in Canada or the United States can apply. On the waitlist, tick "I am an ACEO artist" and share photos of up to three of your best ACEOs. We review every submission personally and choose the artists we'd love to work with.

Our rates are published: every artist starts at a flat $10 per ACEO, rising to a share of the shop price as your work sells. Your pay per ACEO is set in each commission before you make anything. When your finished ACEOs arrive, we pay you by PayPal within 2 business days. We buy each card outright, so your pay never depends on whether or when it sells.

Always. We buy the physical card, never the rights to your art.

No, never, in trading or in the shop. Printed digital art made by a real artist is welcome; art generated by AI is not.

Your email address is never shown to anyone. Your mailing address goes only to your trading partner, once a trade is accepted, so they can mail your card. We never sell your information. Our Privacy Policy has the details.